


Bolt Out of the Blue: Book 1-Water

by Mysterious_Prophetess



Series: Bolt Out of the Blue [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender, Naruto
Genre: Challenge Response, Crossover, Gen, It is kind of clunky at times, Reposted Work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-06
Updated: 2016-08-06
Packaged: 2018-07-29 15:36:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 17,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7690135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mysterious_Prophetess/pseuds/Mysterious_Prophetess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>During the Chunin Exams Team 7, Hinata and Gaara are pulled into another world. How will the ninjas impact the Avatar: The Last Airbender world? Will any of them choose to fight the Fire Lord or will they just try to return home? Find out in Bolt Out of the Blue: Book 1-Water.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Setting the Scene

**Author's Note:**

> This is a "Warts and All Reposting" from Fanfiction. Net, where this was originally posted by me under the same penname. 
> 
> These next set of notes are actually, mostly from the original posting.  
> About the challenge part of this:
> 
> This challenge originally was issued by Son Kenshin in their fic Bending the Jutsu on FF.Net. 
> 
> The Challenge is to send pre-time skip Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Hinata, and the Sound Four to the Avatar: The Last Airbender world. Also Orouchimaru and the Akatsuki must also get involved too. The mandatory pairings are Kataang, NaruHina, and SasuSaku. My other pairings are Maiko, Sukka, and Gaara x Toph.
> 
> I'm pulling Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, Hinata, and Gaara from the end of the first Chunin exam so no curse seal, no chodori, no summoning contracts, no rasengan.
> 
> Note # 1: I do not do –san, -sama, -chan, -kun etc., suffixes nor do I write the name in its inverted form. So if people do not like this then I am sorry but I am a Westerner and I will write the names in the Western format.
> 
> Note # 2: I am deviating from the challenge a little because I feel it more realistic that when crossing the barriers between worlds for what I have happen to occur.
> 
> Final Note: Each ninja will only be able to perform non-elemental jutsu. By the way, can anyone name where the title of the story comes from? There are actually two correct answers.
> 
> To quote Uncle from Jackie Chan Adventures, One More Thing!: Sometimes it'll look like I'm spitting back lines verbatim from the episode and others I'll be skipping over/ summarizing stuff. When it's verbatim it's because I don't know of a good way to alter the dialogue nor insert the extra characters into a scene. Example: Yagoda talking to Katara at the North Pole in the Healing Igloo: A very personal conversation that really can't be altered. And there will be times I follow Naruto (or another character from his universe) around instead of writing the main action of a scene because if you're reading this you've already seen the show and know what happens anyway. This is done in as an exercise to prevent myself from just transcribing the action of the particular episode instead of actually writing a story. I will skip some stuff, I'm warning you now. Sometimes I'll keep the original dialogue for the actual characters of the A:TLA universe and add in snarky/relevant comments from the Naruto characters

Bolt out of the Blue-Book 1: Water

"Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only changed from one form to another," Law of Conservation of Energy-James Joule

Chapter 1: Setting the Scene

What one might not know is that there are many alternate planes of existence aside from their own; and it just so happens that portals between these planes will open up at random and need to pull in a massive amount of energy to fill the void and close the portal. With the death of the Air Nomads that means a whole lot of energy would be needed to fill in the void in universe 3.124567b AKA the Avatar: Last Airbender universe.

In the first part of the Chunin exam sat a spiky haired blonde ninja boy who wore a bright kill-me-orange jumpsuit and a head band that had a metal plate on the front with a strange swirled symbol engraved on it. His bright blue eyes looked around nervously from the test that was far too difficult for him to pass on his own wits. On his sweat covered face there were three whiskers on each cheek. This boy was Naruto Uzumaki, the host of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. Next to him sat the hunched form of a girl with lavender-pupiless eyes wearing a bulky tan jacket, her black hair cropped short in a bob, around her neck was the same headband that Naruto wore. This was Hinata Hyuga and it was known to everyone, but Naruto, that she had a crush on him.

In another part of the room sat a girl with long pink hair wearing a red dress over blue shorts, on her head was the also another headband like Naruto's only hers was worn like a head band instead of a sweatband like Naruto's. Her green eyes looked at the paper in concentration. This is Sakura Haruno, Naruto's teammate, crush, and the smartest girl in their academy class. She was able to complete the questions on her own due to her own intelligence and she had divined the true reason behind the test was to cheat sneakily like the ninja they were supposed to be.

Also in the room sat a boy with black hair wearing a blue jacket with a red fan symbol on the back, his eyes currently red and he was copying another boy's every move. He also wore the exact same head band as Naruto and wore it in the same way as him as well. This was Naruto's final teammate Sasuke Uchiha. Normally his eyes were black but when he activated his bloodline ability they turned red and he gained the famed Sharingan.

The only other demon host in the room was a redheaded boy wearing a white sash over a black outfit with a gourd on his back. An eye of sand was floating around the room finding the answers for him. This was Gaara of the Desert, host of the One-Tailed Raccoon Dog named Shukaku. He had a similar metal plate on the strap that held his gourd on his back, only his symbol looked similar to an hour glass.

Right before the administrator of the first exam, Ibiki Morino, could stand up and announce the final question a loud wrenching sound could be heard. Everyone's eyes were drawn up towards the ceiling where a strange vortex appeared, sucking tests and other loose materials into it. Then,

"AHHH!" Sakura had been caught up in the gravitational pull of the vortex along with Gaara, whose sand had gotten sucked up before it could form his ultimate defense.

"Sakura!" Naruto yelled as he and Sasuke got to their feet. Both jumped after her only to get sucked in along with Hinata. After that, the vortex closed.

"Get the Hokage in here now!" Ibiki ordered.

Aunt Wu's Village,

A bolt of lightning shot down from a cloudless part of the sky and slammed into the ground outside of the village.

"Did Aunt Wu see that coming!" Sokka cried. By this point, the villagers had learned to ignore Sokka's outbursts and kept going along as if a bolt out of the blue hadn't struck near their village.

"Stupid villagers." Sokka muttered before his curiosity took over. When Sokka arrived at the impact site he found that in it laid the last thing he'd expect; an odd looking boy dressed in a bright orange outfit with blonde hair lying face down in the charred dirt. Yet, oddly enough, the boy wasn't even singed.

"AANG! KATARA! COME CHECK THIS OUT!" Sokka yelled before he ran back into the village waving his arms around excitedly. Little did Sokka know, other events like this had occurred simultaneously to the one he had witnessed, nor could he have guessed the impact these events would have.

Outside Zhong-Zhong's Camp,

Chey had been sneaking around as he gather supplies for himself and the rest of the deserters at Zhong-Zhong's camp whenever a bolt of lightning hit the ground in front of him startling the ex- Fire Nation soldier. He managed to only be slightly singed from the experience. His curiosity got the better of him as he peered into the crater to see a boy lying there face down and unconscious, yet unharmed. He picked up the oddly dressed boy and saw that despite his odd outfit, his dark hair and pale skin fit in with the average citizen of the fire nation.

Hopefully Zhong-Zhong wouldn't be too angry with him for bringing the boy back instead of the supplies he'd been sent out for.

Ba Sing Se: University Courtyard,

When the bolt slammed into the ground the Dai Li were immediately on the move. In the center of the crater was a young girl, but the public didn't see much more than that before the Dai Li sent everyone away. Her odd appearance aside, she was perfect to become another Joo Dee. Long Feng motioned with his hand at the girl and she was carried away as the earthbenders bent the ground back into its proper shape leaving only a large charred section behind. They could fix her appearance after her training, after all, a Joo Dee shouldn't look too different than a respectable woman should look.

Gaoling: Outskirts,

The strange hermit, who few saw, had been enjoying the peace and quiet whenever a bolt of lightning shattered that by slamming down next to his small home. He was on edge his hand straying towards his thigh where weapons had once been, but were not at the moment. He looked into the crater to see a redhaired boy with a gourd lying there unharmed and not ever the least bit effected by the lightning aside from being a bit dazed, yet conscious. He recognized the symbol on his gourd strap as he picked the boy up, coming from a world he had given up to save the lives of others.

Northern Water Tribe: Spirit Oasis,

Master Pakku had been shaken out of his mediation whenever he heard the crack of lightning and the screams of people. He ran out of his house to see smoke rising from the Oasis. He tore through the city like a man possessed before he entered to see lying on a patch of charred grass was an oddly dressed girl, who was completely unharmed, though with the smoke coming from the grass she would begin to get hurt by smoke inhalation. He pulled her off of the grass set her down before calling for a healer to come and check her over.

Aunt Wu's Village,

Naruto felt as if someone had been pounding a hammer in his head whenever he awoke.

"Look, he's coming too!" a voice said. Naruto saw a bald boy with a blue arrow tattoo on his forehead wearing orange monk robes was leaning over him with a dark haired, dark skinned girl on his right and a dark haired, dark skinned guy on his right. The boy and girl were both wearing similar blue outfits and had the same blue eyes. The monk boy had gray eyes.

'Last thing I know I was at that stupid test with Sakura and Stupid Sauske whenever-,' Naruto remembered the vortex. This caused him get into a crouch with his right hand on his weapons pouch before he yelled,

"WHERE THE HECK AM I? AND WHERE'S SAKURA AND SASUKE!"


	2. The Fortune Teller

Chapter 2: The Fortune Teller

Konoha,

After the ANBU and the Third Hokage were called in for an investigation and had left the room, the Sound Four was conducting their own investigation on behalf of their Otokage: the Snake Sage Orochimaru.

"Why the f_k do we have to investigate why that b!$, Uchiha, vanished along with f_king Gaara?" Tayuya complained just as the vortex opened once again and sucked up the Sound Four.

When the lightning cleared, the Sound Four recovered quickly to see they were in the middle of what appeared to be a military installation with strange metal devices surrounded them by the hundreds.

"Fuck!" Tayuya yelled before the battle began.

Aunt Wu's Village,

Naruto remembered the vortex. This caused him get into a crouch with his right hand on his weapons pouch before he yelled,

"WHERE THE HECK AM I? AND WHERE'S SAKURA AND SASUKE!"

"Calm down! You're in the Earth Kingdom, somewhere, and who?" the boy in blue said to Naruto who was still standing in his defensive crouch, he had also been the one to speak whenever he was waking up.

"What's going on!" Naruto demanded.

"My brother found you outside the village and we brought you here. There wasn't anyone else near where you were found. My name's Katara." The girl said smiling, "That's my brother Sokka and this is Aang."

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki, future Hokage!" Naruto said proudly, but none the less kept in a defensive stance.

"Relax, we're not going to hurt you!" said Sokka as holding up his hands in a peaceful gesture, "It's not as if you're Fire Nation or anything."

"Fire Nation? Don't you mean Land of Fire?" Naruto asked confused as he relaxed.

"No, I mean Fire Nation." Said Sokka, "You know, the people bent on conquering the world and have already wiped out the Air Nomads?"

"The who?" Naruto asked.

"Stupid human! We're not in your country anymore!" a snarling voice snapped at Naruto.

"Who said that?" He asked as he looked around.

"Said what?" asked Aang confused.

"Fool, I did!" the voice said again until Naruto saw the room fall away and he landed in a sewer in front of a large cage.

On the bars of said cage was a slip of paper with the word 'Seal' written on it.

"Who are you and where are we!" Naruto growled reaching for a kunai.

"Why was I sealed into such a dense moron? I'm the Nine Tailed Demon Fox you idiot!" the voice said as the cage filled with killing intent that made Zabuza seem benign in comparison.

"You! You're why everyone hates me!" Naruto yelled pointing his finger at the cage.

"And you have been tarnishing my reputation with your idiocy so it seems we both have our little problems." The Nine-Tails shot back, "Now shut up for a few minutes while I try to explain to you what is going on, buffoon!"

To the others it only appeared that Naruto fell down and his eyes gained a glazed look to them.

"We have to do something." Katara said.

"What? It's not as if we know why he's suddenly mister glazed eyes here!" Sokka said.

"Maybe he'll snap out of it?" Aang suggested.

"Well, I'm going to stay with him." Katara said.

"Ok." said Aang. Later that day found him and Sokka climbing up the volcano looking for a panda lily.

"Flowers are fine once you're married but right now you have to maintain maximum aloofness!" Sokka said.

"But my heart tells me to get this flower and Aunt Wu said if I followed my heart I would be with the one I loved." Aang said.

"Don't tell me you believe it too?" Sokka said in exasperation.

"Aunt Wu hasn't been wrong yet so why would she be wrong about love?" Aang said.

"There on the rim!" Aang said happily as he spotted the flowers. He picked one and smelled it before he dropped it in shock.

"Oh No! Aunt Wu was wrong." Aang said as he pointed to the volcano, which looked ready to erupt.

"Those people all think they're safe! We've got to warn them!" Sokka said.

"There's no time to walk, grab on!" Aang said as he held up his staff and unfolded him glider.

"AHHHH!" Sokka yelled as Aang jumped with him in tow.

They landed in the village and found Katara outside Aunt Wu's door.

"Can you believe she won't let me in! After all the business I've given her!" Katara said. "But she doesn't even charge." Aang said.

"I know but still!" Katara said, "I was going to ask her if-Naruto!" Katara said suddenly making the other two jump.

"How long was I out?" Naruto asked the pair.

"Several hours. The first time you were out of it most of the morning." Said Sokka. "We don't have time for this! We have other things to worry about! Aunt Wu was wrong about the volcano." Sokka said seriously.

"You tried to convince me Aunt Wu was wrong before. It's going to take an awful lot to change my mind-," Katara said as the ground shook.

"Who's Aunt Wu?" Naruto asked Aang.

"A fortune teller." Said Aang.

"A fraud." Said Sokka at the same time. "Come on we have to warn people!"

They walked over to the plaza where everyone was.

"Everyone that volcano is going to blow any minute! Aunt Wu was wrong!" Sokka said.

"Yeah, sure mister science and reason lover!" a woman sneered.

"If you won't listen to him, listen to me!" Katara said, "I want to believe Aunt Wu and her predications as much as you but my brother and Aang saw the lava with their own eyes!"

"Well I heard Aunt Wu's prediction with my own ears!" the man the trio had first run into said.

"You're all morons if you're going to believe some old bat's word over people who've actually seen proof!" Naruto yelled.

"You're as bad as him!" a villager said pointing to Sokka who let out and indignant 'Hey!'

"Please listen to us! You are all in danger! We have to get out of here! You can't rely on Aunt Wu's Predictions! You have to take fate into your own hands." Aang said.

As if to provide an exclamation point to Aang's statement, the volcano sent out another shock wave.

"Can your fortune telling explain that!" Sokka yelled.

"Can you science explain why it rains?" a guy said.

"Yes! Yes it can!" Sokka replied.

"It's no use Sokka." said Naruto, recognizing people holding to mistaken beliefs better than anyone.

"They just won't listen to reason." Said Katara. Something seemed to occur to Aang.

"But they will listen to Aunt Wu!" Aang said. Naruto smirked after he realized what Aang was getting at.

"That's the problem!" Sokka said, not understanding what Aang meant.

"Well it's about to become the solution. We're going to take fate into our own hands. First I need to borrow Aunt Wu's cloud reading book." Aang said. After explaining his plan Naruto volunteered to be a distraction.

"How are you going to do that?" asked Sokka.

"You'll see." Naruto said as he gave a fox-like grin. Had anyone from Konoha seen this they'd have immediately run for the hills knowing this meant a major prank.

Naruto had everything ready to go whenever Sokka gave him the signal.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto said as he made the sign and several Naruto's poofed into existence.

"Let's do this!" they said as one before they began to toss handfuls of improvised water balloons over the crowd. These burst open to reveal they were fully of honey. Then the Narutos threw feathers down on the crowd.

"Get him!" one of the villagers yelled and the earthbenders began to bend earth at the blonde.

"Crap!" Naruto said as he dispelled all him clones. He then began to run for his life. Unbeknownst to him, but noticed by Katara, when he ran he made the air swirl around him to help him move faster.

'He's an airbender!' she thought in shock.

Naruto stood off to the side hidden by shadow as Sokka managed to get Aunt Wu to her cloud reading podium.

'The clouds have to be a giant skull to mean volcanic doom? No wonder she's never read that' Naruto thought snorting.

"Can you do that duplication thing again?" Aang asked Naruto over the crowd.

"Sure!" Naruto said smiling and giving Aang a thumbs up. Naruto gawked at the earthbenders for only a moment before he and his many clones joined Sokka on his side with the non-benders digging in the trench.

"How are you doing that?" asked Sokka.

"It's a jutsu." Naruto said as he continued to dig. "Where I'm from a lot of people can do things cooler than this."

"But how?" asked Sokka just before the volcano flared.

"DIG FASTER!" Sokka said in panic. Once Aang gave the get clear order, Naruto remained with Aang, Katara and Sokka on the edge of the trench as the ash began to fall. This was the first time Naruto had ever seen a volcano erupt and it was terrifying.

"It's going to overflow!" He registered Katara saying. That's when Aang sprung into action making a whirl wind and making the magma cool.

"I keep forgetting what a powerful bender that kid is." Sokka said.

'Bender? There's that word again.' Naruto thought.

"What did you say?" Katara said.

"Nothing, just that Aang's one powerful bender." Sokka said.

"I guess he is." Katara said.

After everyone was back Aang fessed-up.

"We kind of borrowed your book." Aang said sheepishly.

"So you messed with the clouds did you?" Aunt Wu said as if she were going to scold them, then she smiled. "Very Clever."

"I hope this all teaches you a lesson on not relying on fortune telling." Said Sokka.

"But Aunt Wu said the village wouldn't be destroyed and it wasn't." said a man. Sokka walked over to the man quickly and said,

"I hate you."

"Come on Sokka." Katara said as she led her brother away.

"It was only saved because we did something about it!" Naruto grumbled only to find Katara dragging him away too.

"You didn't see love in my fortune, did you?" asked Aang.

"Let me tell you something honey, just as you changed those clouds you can change your future." Aunt Wu said to Aang.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just as a reminder, this is a reposting of a previously published fanfic from FF.Net.  
> I'm mostly doing this as a way to get to know this site's system by repetition.  
> I apologize for any errors you find, as I know they are there and I never did fix them.  
> -MP


	3. How Did You Do That?

Chapter 3: How Did You Do That?

The group turned to Naruto and Katara asked.

"How did you multiply yourself?" as Sokka asked.

"What the heck is a jutsu!"

"A jutsu and a jutsu is a technique that uses chakra to do something." Naruto said.

"So where are you from?" asked Katara.

"Konoha, the Village Hidden in the Leaves." Naruto said proudly.

"A Hidden Village?" Aang said confused.

"Yeah, we're a ninja village!" Naruto said.

"Ninja, wait don't you mean shadow warrior?" asked Sokka.

"I guess so." Naruto said confused.

"Get away from him Aang! Katara! He's a trained killer!" Sokka said.

"Knock it off Sokka." Katara said.

"He's not wrong." Said Naruto. "A ninja is a weapon for their village and we do have to kill in the line of duty."

"It's the same as any warrior." Aang said after a moment.

"But shadow warriors are traditionally assassins! They kill on someone else's orders!" Sokka said as he waved his hands in the air.

"So do soldiers and samurai!" Naruto said huffily.

"So, why were you in that crater Sokka says he found you in?" asked Katara as she changed the subject.

"I don't know. Last thing I knew I was taking the chunin exam whenever this vortex opened up and sucked this kid from Suna, Sakura, Sauske, this dark but nice weirdo girl from my village, and me into it. Next thing I know you three are looming over me. How did those people make those trenches without hand signs and how did Aang make those wind gusts?" asked Naruto.

"Those people are earthbenders. They can control the earth in many forms. I can bend water." Katara said as she bent the water out of a nearby puddle and made it float through the air. "Most people can only bend one element. Except the Avatar who can bend all four."

"Avatar?" Naruto asked confused.

"The one person in the four nations who can bend all the elements and is the bridge between our world and the spirit world: The Avatar is reincarnated in the same cycle so that each nation has a chance to have the Avatar be born as one of them." Katara said.

"I'm the current Avatar." Aang said.

"So you can bend all four elements?" Naruto asked. Aang nodded.

"Cool!" Naruto said. "So Aang's from an Air nation?"

"Well, they were called the Air Nomads. The Fire Nation wiped all the airbenders out 100 years ago in an attempt to kill the Avatar before he could be trained and oppose them." Katara said as she looked down.

"All of them?" Naruto asked. "But how is Aang here if they all died 100 years ago?"

"I was frozen in an iceberg until Katara and Sokka found me." Aang said. "Now we're on our way to the Northern Water Tribe to learn waterbending. The Avatar must be trained in the correct sequence. For me it's Air, Water, Earth, Fire. I already mastered air."

"Can anyone bend?" asked Naruto.

"Not really." Said Katara, "But you can."

"What?" Sokka asked.

"When he was running from the villagers he made the air help him to run faster." Katara.

"I did that?" Naruto asked. "But I don't have time to stick around and bend. I've got to find Sakura and Sasuke and a way back to Konoha!"

"Do you think maybe they appeared after lightning strikes as well?" Katara said.

"Maybe." Naruto said after a moment thinking it through.

"Of course they did you moron!" the Nine-Tails yelled. Naruto ignored the demon in favor of listening to the others.

"If you travel with us we can ask people if they've seen lightning strike out of the blue like it did when you appeared." Sokka said.

"And maybe we can try to find clues on how to find your home." Aang said.

"Plus those 'jutsu's of yours ought to help us kick some Fire Nation butt along the way." Sokka said.

"And Aang can teach you airbending." Katara said.

"I can really come with you?" Naruto asked.

"Sure. Welcome to the gang!" said Aang holding out a hand. Naruto took it and then yelled.

"Yeah! Let's go!"

Ba Sing Se,

"Long Feng, that girl, the newest recruit for Jou Dee training has escaped!" a Dai Li agent reported.

"WHAT!" He yelled. "Find her and bring her back now!"

"But she isn't so easily recognized now that we made her appearance more respectable. It'd be like finding a small stone in a pile of gravel." The agent said.

"Do it." Long Feng said. The Dai Li agent bowed to him before leaving. Outside the walls of Ba Sing Se a girl ran through the night and snuck onto the ferry.

Avatar's Group,

"Why'd I have to change my clothes?" Naruto asked as he picked at the green long sleeved top he wore along with the loose black pants. He'd kept his sandals and head band and refused point blank to get rid of his weapons' holster which was still attached to his right leg.

"Your clothing isn't normal for the Earth Kingdom or anywhere we know of actually. So it's better that you sort of try to blend in despite your odd hair coloring." Said Sokka.

"What there aren't any blondes here?" Naruto snorted in disbelief.

"Not really." Said Aang. "I mean there might have been some blondes among the Air Nomads but we're all gone now."

"Fine." Naruto said. "There aren't that many blondes at my home anyway."

"See!" Sokka said as he pointed at Naruto's hair.

"Knock it off, Sokka." Katara said.

Zuko's Ship,

"So the Avatar has a new companion." Zuko said as a fisherman stood before him nervously.

"That's right they bought him normal clothing at my village and he changed out of his strange orange outfit for it. He's a boy about the Avatar's height with hair the color of the sun and blue eyes like the members of the Water Tribe." The fisherman said.

"Uncle! Pay this man." Zuko said before he walked away towards the prow of his boat as the crew got ready to make way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just as a reminder, this is a reposting of a previously published fanfic from FF.Net.  
> I'm mostly doing this as a way to get to know this site's system by repetition.  
> I apologize for any errors you find, as I know they are there and I never did fix them.  
> -MP


	4. Bato of the Water Tribe

Chapter 4: Bato of the Water Tribe

A week later Zuko's Ship at port,

Zuko and Iroh were sitting down for tea and just before Zuko can take a drink the ship shook and the hot water ended up on Zuko's head. The short tempered teen ran up on deck to see a beautiful woman in skin tight dark clothing with a tattoo on her arm was there sitting astride a giant rat thing.

"I'm looking for a stow away." She said as if she expected them to follow her orders.

"There are no stowaways on my ship." Zuko protested before the creature ripped a chunk out of his deck which caused the banished royal to duck as the creature stuck it's nose in the hole before a man crawled out of the hold and tried to run before the creature's tongue lashed out and hit the man on the back of the neck twice paralyzing him.

"He's paralyzed." Zuko said.

"Temporarily; The toxin wears off after an hour after which he'll be in jail and I'll get my money." The woman said as she slung the man in front of her saddle.

"How did you find that man on my ship?" Zuko asked.

"My Xierxu can smell a rat a continent away." The bounty hunter replied.

"I'm impressed." Iroh said as she rode the xierxu off the ship and onto the dock.

Avatar, Naruto & Company,

Later, after searching for food Aang discovered a sword made out of a whale bone which led Sokka to discover the remains of a Fire Nation versus Water Tribe fight which led them to an abandoned Water Tribe ship.

"Is it Dad's?" Katara asked as she looked at the ship.

"No, but it's from his fleet." Sokka said happily.

"Let's camp here then." Said Aang picking up on their emotions, "And after we make camp we can practice bending."

"Just do your magic away from me!" Sokka grumped.

"Huh?" Naruto said confused.

"Sokka's mad because he always seems to get wet when me and Katara waterbend." said Aang. Naruto laughed before he took his position near Aang and waited for further instruction. Aang managed to get Naruto started on a basic form while he and Katara practiced the water whip and freezing water into ice. Once the sun had gone down they decided to call it a quits and sit around the fire and afterwards Aang and Katara went to sleep, Aang on Appa's tail and Katara in her sleeping bag. Naruto was sitting by the ship while Sokka stared at the fire deep in thought.

Naruto tensed up after he picked up on footsteps and melted into the shadows before he stealthily made his way across the beach and tackled the approaching figure with a yell. Sokka ran over to Naurto who had a man pinned with a kunai out.

"What is it Naruto?" asked Sokka concerned before he recognized the startled bandaged man on the ground, "Bato?"

"Sokka?" the man said before gasping in pain.

"Naruto let him up he's friendly!" Sokka said.

"Sorry." Naruto said as he backed off and put his kunai away before helping the wounded Water Tribesman back up.

"Katara! Aang!" Sokka said alerting the others.

"Who the what now?" Aang said confused as he woke up as Katara sat up and said,

"Bato!" before she got up and ran over to him.

"Katara! It's so good to see you two. You have grown so much." Bato said as each hugged him.

"Hello I'm Aang." Aang said bowing politely.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto said also bowing. But, before Bato could ever respond to the introductions,

"Where's Dad?" Sokka asked eagerly.

"Is he here?" Katara asked equally eagerly.

"No. He and the other warriors should be in the Eastern Earth Kingdom by now." Bato said. The wind blew making everyone shiver.

"This is no place for a reunion, let's get inside." Bato said putting a hand on Sokka and Katara's shoulders. He motioned to the two behind him to follow.

Bato led them down the beach towards a large building. Along the way Sokka and Katara filled him in on their adventures with Aang so far and he asked.

"Why did your strange haired friend tackle me?"

"Naruto's a trained Shadow Warrior." Said Sokka shrugging.

"Shadow Warrior? Interesting company you keep." Bato said as he looked over his shoulder at the blonde who was talking to Aang.

"And then I managed to out run the ANBU sent after me before the Old Man caught me. Those old geezers couldn't get the dye out of their hair for weeks after that prank." Naruto said proudly.

"What's an 'ANBU?'" Aang asked.

"They're uh, special security forces and special operations for a Hidden Village." said Naruto after thinking of a good explanation. "They're hard to out run."

"Ok." Aang said before they arrived at the entrance of the building, waiting for them was an older woman in robes and a habit.

"After I was wounded, your father carried me to this abbey and the sisters have taken care of me ever since. Sister Superior, these are Hakoda's children. They've been traveling with the Avatar and another friend," Bato said gesturing to Sokka, Katara, Aang and Naruto.

"Young Avatar, it gives me great joy to be in your presence. Welcome to our abbey." Said the Sister Superior greeting him.

"Thank you. It's truly an honor to be here. If there's anything-," Aang began to say before Sokka cut him off.

"What smells so good, Bato?" Sokka asked as he sniffed the air.

"The Sisters craft perfumes and ointments."

"Perfume? Maybe we can dump some on Appa because he stinks so much. Am I right?" Sokka said as he tried to get a laugh.

"You have your father's wit." Bato said after moment.

He led them into another room and Naruto hung back just looking at the unfamiliar sky for a moment.

"What's up Naruto?" Aang asked concerned.

"I'm going to explore, is that ok?" he asked after a moment, his cheer facade slipping slightly.

"Sure." Aang said shrugging before he entered the room. Naruto might act dumb but he could see a situation where he was the outsider like no other could. After all, growing up as an outcast you learned quickly to get away from somewhere you weren't wanted or needed in this case.

"Something troubles you?" a sister said.

"I'm ok." Naruto said as he put on his fake smile. "Are there any good high places to look at the sky from?"

"Right this way." The sister said. Naruto was led to a ladder that reached the flat roof, a perfect star gazing location.

"Thank you." Naruto said before he climbed up.

After sitting and looking at the sky, the genin grew bored so he decided to practice his airbending.

A seedy bar,

Zuko and Iroh entered it to find the woman arm wrestling a man easily twice her size. Of course Zuko, being the angry prince he was shoved his way through the throng of thugs saying,

"Out of my way filth." Iroh apologized.

"He doesn't mean it. I'm sure you all bathe regularly." This did nothing to appease those Zuko had angered.

"You have to pay for the repairs to my ship!" Zuko roared.

"Right now? I'm a little strapped for cash." The bounty hunter (June) said as she gathered up the coins on the table before yelling.  
"Drinks on me!" earning cheers from the patrons.

"I had something else in mind." Zuko said.

After promising to waive her responsibilities to repairing his ship and Iroh's weight in gold, June accepted the job the exile prince offered and the trio was on their way.

Bato's room, abbey,

"I'm expecting a message from your father." Said Bato. Aang stirred and became more alert at that statement.

"Really?" Katara exclaimed.

"When?" Sokka asked.

"Any day now. Your father he would send a message when they found the rendezvous point. If you wait around for the message you can come with me to see your father again." Bato said. Aang kept listening, worry making its way to the forefront of his mind.

"It's been two years since we've seen Dad. That would be incredible. Katara?" Sokka asked eagerly.

"I do really miss him. It'll be great to see Dad." Katara said. Aang's face fell.

"It's been far too long hasn't it?" Bato said. Aang got up sadly and opened the door.

"I don't know when word will arrive. When it does-," Aang had closed the door at this point and walked away out into the night.

Later Aang intercepted a message for Bato and it turned out to be a map to the Rendezvous point. Aang, feeling betrayed having not heard the two decline Bato's offer crumbled up the map before he returned to the abbey.

"Sorry I was gone so long," he said as he returned. Katara looked at Aang and said,

"Actually we didn't notice you'd left." Naruto entered after him looking, for lack of a better word, winded and he plopped down.

"Want some stewed sea prunes, Naruto?" Katara offered. Naruto sat up sniffed at it before he took the bowl from Katara and tried a bite.

"Yuck!" Naruto said as he spat it out. "This tastes nasty! This is worse than spoiled miso ramen!"

"What's ramen?" Sokka asked. Naruto went into a dead faint upon hearing that.

When Naruto awoke the next morning Bato and the others were gone. There was a note on the ground, but Naruto couldn't understand the writing on the parchment.

"You got lucky with language human." The Nine-Tailed Fox said.

'Shut-up you stupid fur ball!'Naruto shot back to the sealed demon. Naruto decided to just get back to work on his airbending whenever he scented the stewed sea prunes and a different idea popped into his head. With a plan in mind he went looking for the sisters.

When the others returned Naruto greeted them with a smile only to have the Water Tribesmen move past him silently and begin to pack up. Aang followed behind head down in shame.

"What happened?" Naruto asked, all thought of the pot of ramen he had managed to make forgotten by even him.

"Aang lied to us that's what happened!" Sokka snapped.

"Aang kept information about our Dad's location from us." Katara said.

"Why did you do that?" Naruto asked Aang, confusion on his face.

"I didn't want them to leave." Aang replied.

"Well it doesn't seem to have worked to me." Naruto said annoyed.

"Hey just because he messed up doesn't make him any less of our friend." Sokka said as he pointed at Naruto.

"They why are you deserting him, huh?" Naruto said.

"Avatar, come quick! Someone is attacking the abbey!" Sister Superior said as she ran into the room.

The five looked to one another before they dashed outside in time to see Appa body check a weird rat-looking creature which sent Iroh and Zuko flying. The fierce looking woman managed to stay on the creature before she whipped it to make it get back up. Sokka and Katara charged at it only to have the creature's lightning fast tongue put them down. Then June focused on attacking Appa. Aang and Zuko were fighting, Aang noticing Katara's necklace was on Zuko's wrist leaving Naruto to fight Iroh.

"You're very impressive." Iroh remarked and despite the fact he was holding back, Naruto was an unexpected challenge.

"You're not too bad, geezer!" Naruto responded with a kunai that was blocked by fire. Naruto used airbending to disperse the flames before he continued to press his attack.

Bato was being kept out of the battle by the sisters, who restored movement to the siblings with a fowl smelling concoction. Then Sokka noticed that the creature sniffed for Appa and that it had no eyes which added-up to one conclusion.

"That thing sees with its nose." He said as he looked to one of the sisters.

"The perfume?" Sister Superior asked.

"Yeah, let's give that thing something to see." Sokka said. Just as Appa went down the Sisters, with Bato and Sokka's help, had the perfume in position.

"Now Katara!" Sokka said as the waterbender bent the perfume onto the xeirxu. The xeirxu went berserk. It paralyzed Zuko, June, and Naruto before it fled the abbey. June landed on Iroh who pretended to be paralyzed.

"Uncle, you didn't get hit." Zuko said weakly. The older man put his fingers to his lips while smirking.

Aang and the others waved good-bye to Bato before flying away on Appa.

"If only there was a way to make things up to you, a little piece of home." Aang remarked in reference to them passing up seeing their father.

"It's alright Aang, really." Katara said.

"Well what about something like this?" Aang said as he held up the necklace.

"My mother's necklace! Where'd you get this?" Katara asked happily as she took it from Aang's hands.

"Well Zuko wanted me to make sure you got this." Aang said as he blushed a little.

"Well, be sure to give Zuko this for me." Katara said as she kissed his cheek and made him blush more.

"Uh guys? We forgot Naruto." Sokka said.

"OH!" Aang said as they turned around.

The abbey,

"THAT'S DISGUSTING!" Naruto said as he inhaled the de-paralyzing agent. The sisters had to wait until after the bounty hunter and the fire nation duo had left before they could safely tend to the blonde.

"Your friends seem to have forgotten you." Said Sister Superior.

"WHAT?" Naruto yelled. The hyperactive blonde looked up into the sky to see the bison speeding back.

"Looks like they didn't forget after all." Naruto said as he smiled before he leapt into the air and grabbed one of Appa's feet and scrambled up into the saddle.

"Sorry. Sokka noticed you were missing." Aang said sheepishly.

"Thanks Sokka!" Naruto said as he hugged the older boy.

"Hey! Warriors don't hug each other!" Sokka said as he squirmed out of the ninja's grip.

Aang and Katara just laughed at the others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just as a reminder, this is a reposting of a previously published fanfic from FF.Net.  
> I'm mostly doing this as a way to get to know this site's system by repetition.  
> I apologize for any errors you find, as I know they are there and I never did fix them.  
> -MP


	5. The Deserter

Chapter 5: The Deserter

"This should give us a good idea of what's around here." Katara said as she pointed to the sign.

Naruto looked away from it embarrassed from the fact he couldn't read the language.

'Why couldn't they use kanji?' he wondered. Nine Tails snorted at his jailor.

He missed Sokka's comment but perked up when Aang mentioned a festival.

"This could be my chance to study some real firebenders!" Aang pleaded.

"You might want to rethink that." Sokka said as he studied the other side, the others joined him.

"Cool! It's a poster of me." Aang said smiling. Naruto might not have been able to read the poster but he understood what it was.

"Yeah, a wanted poster." Sokka said, voicing what Naruto thought aloud.

"We'd better keep moving." Katara said slightly disappointed.

"That sounds good to me!" Naruto agreed. Every stealthy part of his body was screaming that this was a bad idea. Granted, though there weren't many of those parts, they still existed.

"This could be my only chance to see some real masters up close." Aang said. Katara's resolve crumbled almost audibly.

"I guess we could go check it out." She said without much conviction.

"WHAT!" Naruto exclaimed at the same time as Sokka who continued on.

"You want to go into a Fire Nation village where they're all fired up by their, you know, fire?"

"We'll wear disguises and if it looks like trouble we'll leave." Katara said. Naruto shrugged seeing that it might work. But Sokka said,

"Yeah, because we always leave before there's trouble."

After his pets hid themselves behind a bush, to varying degrees of effectiveness (Appa), they readied their disguises. Sokka and Katara were wearing black cloaks while Aang merely pulled part of his robes over his head which made Katara giggle and Sokka sarcastically remark,

"It's as if you're a whole other person."

"What about you Naruto?" asked Katara.

"Well, I'll catch up to you later. My disguise will be more than just a cloak or what Aang did." Naruto said. The others left and a clone arrived with what Naruto had instructed it to 'borrow.'

'Ok, here goes nothing.' He thought. As he dispelled the clone he ducked behind a tree and didn't notice the guy in a cloak following his friends.

In the village, the others were sticking close to each other whenever Katara noticed the masks.

"I think we're going to need different disguises." She said.

"Yeah but how are we going to get masks like that?" Sokka asked.

"Get your genuine Fire Festival Masks Here!" a vendor yelled.

"That was surprisingly easy." Sokka remarked before he joined the others. After shuffling the masks (Sokka initially had a smiling mask and Aang a frowning one before Katara fixed this before slipping her own mask of a woman's face on) they noticed a girl in a red Fire Nation dress was hanging around near them with a bright orange mask on her face. It was in the shape of a fox oddly enough. Then they noticed her pig tailed hair was blonde. And knowing of only one blonde at all in this part of the Earth Kingdom,

"Naruto?" Sokka gasped.

"Shhh!" I thought we were supposed to be disguised here?" a girl's voice said,

"Is this another jutsu?" Katara asked in a hushed tone.

"Yep. And it's Naru-ko." The blonde said in an upbeat tone.

Of course all good things must come to an end and after Aang and Naruto tried to save Katara from a fireball, Aang was revealed and they had to follow a cloaked man to get out of there. Aang called for Appa via a bison whistle and they escaped with a wall of fire works behind them.

"Nice touch setting off the fireworks." Aang remarked.

"Very nice touch indeed." Naruto said, still in his/her girl disguise as 'Naruko.'

"Can you go back to being you. This, girl you is very disturbing." Sokka said to 'Naruko.' 'Naruko' pouted at Sokka,

"You mean you don't like my Sexy Jutsu?" he/she said. Sokka sputtered which made the blonde laugh, which with the form he/she was currently wearing came out as a girlish giggle. This happened as the man sat in stunned silence before they landed. 'Naruko' dashed off into the bushes before emerging a few minutes later as Naruto in his proper clothing, the dress he'd previously been wearing as 'Naruko' over his arm.

"So you seemed to really know your explosives." Sokka said turning to their mysterious ally.

"I'm familiar." The man said as he turned to look at them with his hood down.

"You're a Fire Nation Soldier!" Sokka said as the others looked at the man in alarm.

"Was. My name's Chey." He said. He then began to ramble about his master. Zhong-Zhong the deserter, a genius firebender who deserted the army after getting fed up with everything and was a legend because he was the first deserter ever. Sokka wanted to leave while the others wanted to go see Zhong-Zhong.

"We can always escape later?" Naruto said to Sokka trying to pacify him as men with spears surrounded them. Naruto was about to make the sign for shadow clones when one of them, who was really close to Katara said,

"Don't move." Naruto knew he could probably surprise them but one of the others might get hurt so he was compliant, though took him a long time arguing mentally with his actual snarky mental voice, which sounded a bit like Kakashi, instead of his tennant who was probably sleeping.

The captured group was forced to walk single file, one of the men said angrily to Chey,

"Zhong-Zhong said NOT to look for the Avatar."

"So you know these guys?" Sokka asked.

"Oh yeah, Lin-Yi's an old buddy, right Lin-Yi." Chey said.

"Shut-up and keep moving!" the newly identified Lin-Yi said. They arrived at the edge of an encampment and Chey was sent to talk to Zhong-Zhong alone. Before Naruto could be corralled in with the others, a form in a black cloak grabbed him and pulled him into a tree, all the while escaping the notice of the other soldiers, Sokka, Katara, and Aang.

"You let yourself get captured by these clowns?" the form hissed once they were both balancing on tree branches. Naruto recognized the voice instantly.

"Sasuke?" Naruto said in shock. The hood lowered to reveal it was indeed the 'last,' loyal Uchiha. The blonde tackled him out of the tree with a hug.

"Man I'm glad I found you." Naruto said once he let go and helped Sasuke up.

"More like I found you." Sasuke muttered. "Is Sakura with you?" he asked.

"No." Naruto said sadly. "But we can find her together." He said as his cheery façade slipped back into place.

"How did you end up with the Avatar?" Sasuke asked genuine emotion slipping into his voice, in this case curiosity.

"His friend found me after a lightning bolt hit." Naruto said shrugging.

"Lightning?" Sasuke said interested.

"Yep." Naruto said. "Was there lightning when you were found too?" asked Naruto suddenly remembering something.

"Yes, actually." Said Sasuke with a strange look on his face.

"Sokka and Katara were right. If we look for other cases of lightning strikes we'll find the others." Naruto said loudly.

"Keep it down, moron." Sasuke said irritably. "And they'd have to be the strange kind like ours was and not regular lightning."

"I know that." Naruto snapped softly.

"You, firebender, why are you with the avatar's friend?" asked one of the ones wearing leaf armor.

"He's my teammate." Sasuke said.

"You're a bender too?" Naruto asked.

"Yes." Sasuke. "What's your element?"

"Air." Naruto said proudly as he made the air swirl a bit.

"Your friend can stay with you if you keep an eye on him." Said Lin-Yi.

"Teammate." Sasuke corrected flatly.

The next day found Sasuke working on controlling a fireball while Aang was to focus on his breathing. Naruto, and a few clones were working on practicing airbending against one another, Aang having shown him a few new forms over the past week. Naruto also had figured out using clones helped speed up his learning. Over the course of the day the others had moved onto to other tasks, Aang having been moved to another place for his breathing. Sasuke had let the fireball disperse and went onto working on the basic movements.

"Why did he train you?" Aang asked Sasuke after he exited Zhong-Zhong's tent later. After all it had taken arguing on Aang's part to get Zhong-Zhong to agree to teach him, despite being the Avatar, especially after the story of Zhong-Zhong's student who had no control and too much ambition.

"I was too much of a danger to myself and others with my bending." Sasuke said. Naruto looked over at the Uchiha who locked eyes with him and flashed his Sharigan on for a second. Translation: He copied the movements from another bender and couldn't control the fire that came with them.

The next day,

Aang had finally been able to work with fire and was to keep the small leaf in his hands from being completely consumed. He grew bored with it and complained irritably until it exploded into fire. He then began playing with it much to Sasuke's surprise and there was some horror that the little monk was treating something so dangerous so casually. Even Naruto knew better than to mess with something that was dangerous so casually and callously.

"Careful! Aang you could hurt yourself" Katara warned from nearby. Sasuke heard someone call his name and looked over their direction and listened to what they had to say about something or other to do with the camp, while this was going on,

"I wonder how the juggler did it." Aang said before he lost control of the fire and,

"AHHH!" Katata cried out, her hands covered in dark red burns. Sasuke had also nearly been hit but managed to send it away from himself into the sky, too surprised to take full control of the fire.

"Katara I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to." Aang said as he rushed over to the crying girl. Sokka came over from fishing as he yelled, "KATARA!"

"Look what you've done! I told you that you shouldn't mess around with this. You burned my sister." Sokka cried out angrily after he'd tackled Aang to the ground. Katara then ran off, all the while crying from her pain.

"Katara!" Naruto yelled as he chased after her. Sasuke shook his head at the Avatar before he bowed respectfully to Zhong-Zhong.

"This is all your fault." Sokka accused the master firedbender.

"I know, now pack your things," Zhong-Zhong ordered.

"I didn't mean too-," Aang said as he got up before he got cut off by the angry Sokka.

Naruto caught up with Katara around the same time as Zhong-Zhong did to see the water glow and heal her hands.

"You have healing abilities. The great benders of the Water Tribe have sometimes had this ability. I often wish I was blessed like you." Zhong-Zhong said.

"But you're a great master. You'll have powers I'll never know." Katara said in surprise.

"Your element heals and gives life while mine destroys and causes pain. It forces those cursed with its burden to walk a razor's edge between humanity and savagery. Eventually it will overpower me," Zhong-Zhong said.

After he said this flames shot at the trio. Zhaou's ships had arrived and with it, Monkey Face himself.

"I'll hold them off. Go get your friends and flee," Zhong-Zhong said Naruto took a fighting stance he'd learned at the academy.

"You're no match for fully trained firebenders, boy! You're a half trained airbender!" Zhong-Zhong said.

"That may be true, but I'm a ninja of Konoha and I have the Will of Fire, I will not run," Naruto said stubbornly.

"I'll go get Aang!" Katara said before she ran off.

Katara managed to find Aang and told him about Zhaou. Aang arrived to see Zhong-Zhong use a clever trick to flee. Most of the soldiers followed him leaving a few fighting Naruto. After a comment made by the admiral Aang realized that Zhaou was the student that Zhong-Zhong had mentioned had no self control. Aang used Zhaou's own lack of control to force him to destroy his own river boats with a few insults to egg him on. After this Aang and the others climbed on Appa to get away. It wasn't until after they'd taken off that Aang, Katara and Sokka noticed there was an extra person with them sitting next to Naruto.

"Hey guys. This is Sasuke, one of my Teammates. He's a bender too." Naruto said.

"You mentioned him before, right?" Katara said. Naruto nodded.

"But he's a firebender!" Sokka complained.

"So? Why not fight fire with fire?" Naruto said. Sasuke ignored the comments.

"He didn't even ask if he could come!" Sokka said.

"He can stay." Aang said quietly. "If I'm never going to firebend again, we're going to need someone who will."

"Are you sure?" Katara asked.

"If Naruto's good then Sasuke must also be good." Aang said.

"But he's a FIREBENDER!" Sokka said.

"So? He's my teammate and friend and I trust him with my life." Naruto said. "You trust me don't you?"

"Well yeah." Sokka. "You've had our backs when we faced trouble."

"Then you can trust Sasuke." Naruto said.

"Alright." Sokka said. Katara nodded and Aang said,

"Welcome to the gang." Sasuke merely nodded in return.

"Aang you were burned." Katara noticed looking at Aang's arm. "Here let me help." She bent water out of her hip flask and concentrated before it glowed and healed the burn.

"How'd you learn to do that?" Aang asked.

"I guess I've always known." Katara said shrugging. This led to Sokka listing off all the instances he could have used her healing which caused Naruto to laugh and Sasuke to roll his eyes in exasperation.

'What have I gotten myself into?' he wondered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just as a reminder, this is a reposting of a previously published fanfic from FF.Net.  
> I'm mostly doing this as a way to get to know this site's system by repetition.  
> I apologize for any errors you find, as I know they are there and I never did fix them.  
> -MP


	6. The Northern Air Temple

Chapter 6: The Northern Air Temple

It had nearly been four days since the surly firebender had joined the gang and in those four days he and Naruto had been forced to wear some Sokka's spare clothes on top of their other clothing due to the decreasing temperature. This Sokka was less than thrilled about. They'd managed to find a town soon afterwards and the two extra members bartered with villagers for their own heavy coats; Sasuke's was a heavy cloak while Naruto's was a red-orange colored coat lined with fur. At current they were sitting around a fire listening to an old man go on about 'Air Walkers.' The ones with the Avatar realized they were talking about airbenders.

Aang complimented the man on his story mentioning it had to have been a hundred years ago whenever the man said that his great-grandfather had seen them just the other day. The others agreed to investigate.

"This is where they held the Air Bison Polo Championships." Aang said happily as they approached the Northern Air Temple. Naruto was dozing while Sasuke just sat silently.

"Do you really think there are Airbenders there?" Katara asked.

"Do you want me to be like you or do you want me to be honest?" Sokka asked.

"Are you calling me a liar?" Katara asked.

"You're an optimist, which is close to the same thing." Sokka said.

"Guys look at that!" Aang cried which startled Naruto out of his dozing.

"Wha?" he said sleepily. Aang's face fell as he saw the people.

"They really are airbenders." Katara said.

"No they're not." Aang said disappointedly.

"What are you talking about? They're flying!" Sokka said pointing to the figures in the air.

"Gliding maybe. You can tell by the way they're moving that they're not airbending. They have no spirit." Aang said.

That's when they were buzzed by a kid in a glider-chair.

"I don't know Aang, that kid seems to have spirit." Katara said. Aang then began to fly around himself with his glider in a flying contest with the kid. Of course the other gliders spooked Appa making Sokka comment that they should probably land. The others and the sky bison agreed, Appa showing his agreement by landing on the temple as Aang and the boy, Teo, continued their aerial acrobatics. It ended with Teo making a smoke caricature of a frowning Aang, an expression the actual airbender mirrored before he landed smoothly. Teo on the other hand had to brake to a stop.

"Wait you're a real airbender that makes you the Avatar. I've heard amazing stories about you!" The kid said.

"Thanks." Aang said bashfully.

"Got any extra gliders laying about?" Naruto asked eagerly.

"Sure, but not any like his." Said Teo.

"Your glider chair's a work of genius." Sokka remarked. Sasuke nodded as he looked at the build of the glider.

"If you think that's great, wait till you see the other stuff my dad's invented." Teo said as he motioned for the group to follow him. What the others saw next horrified Aang, wowed Sokka and Katara and just looked like a mess to Naruto and Sasuke.

Aang was not happy to see the desecration of his people's scared temple. Teo led him to another part of the temple that was thus far untouched and then a carving of a monk was destroyed by a wrecking ball and a man with wild hair and patchy eyebrows.

"Don't you know enough to stay away from construction sites? We have to make way for the new bathhouse" he said.

"Do you know what you did? You just destroyed something sacred for a stupid bathhouse!" Aang said angrily.

"Well people around here are starting to stink." The man said unaffected by Aang's angry outburst. He was oblivious to Aang's building temper but his friends began to inch away from the enraged monk.

"This whole place stinks!" Aang yelled and with that he airblasted the crane right off the mountain.

"This is a sacred temple! You can't treat it this way. I've seen when the monks were here. I know what it's supposed to be like." Aang said. As if his airbending the crane off the mountain hadn't even registered for the man, he said,

"Monks? But you're twelve."

"Dad he's the Avatar. He used to come here a hundred years ago." Teo said to his father.

Thus the inventor began his sob-story. Naruto, Sasuke, and Aang were unmoved by his speech.

"Look at the time, the pulley system needs to be oiled before dark!" after explaining how his candle-clock worked Sokka went off with the inventor, Sasuke staying with Aang as Teo showed him to a room that he was sure was untouched because only an airbender could open the door. Teo wanted to see inside but Aang didn't want to open it. They returned to the outside where Naruto managed to find one of the original gliders left at the temple, an airbender's glider and claimed it for his own. Aang showed him how to fly it and Naruto began zooming around as Teo talked to Katara about trying to glide.

Katara jumped off and began to glide and the others joined here in the air, even Sasuke, who had trouble keeping his joy of flying off his face. Aang reconsidered showing Teo the door because he realized Teo had the spirit of an airbender. They arrived and Teo said,  
"I can't believe that I'm finally going to see what's inside!" he said. After the air locks flipped it was revealed the room was filled to the brim with nightmarish things. Weapons filled the room, a large balloon with the Fire Nation insignia was in the center.

"This is a nightmare." Aang said.

"You don't understand!" the inventor said as he Sokka, and Sasuke showed up behind Aang, Teo and Naruto.

"You're building weapons for the Fire Nation!" Aang said.

"So what' to understand, huh?" Naruto huffed.

"Explain all this. Now!" Teo said. His father told them of how he sold his services to spare their settlement. The inventor left, soon after Aang and Teo followed him out.

"I can't believe that guy would do that!" Naruto said as he threw a kunai at one of the weapons and then had to duck the ricocheting weapon.

"It was his people or his conscience." Said Sasuke as he calmly caught the kunai, "I can understand his reasoning. You go on about wanting to be Hokage. Wouldn't you do anything to save Konoha?" Naruto paused and his anger abated a little.

"Yes. I can understand him too, but I don't have to like it." Naruto said in a huff.

"What's a Hokage?" Sokka asked as they left the room behind.

"The Hokage is the strongest ninja in our village and he leads and protects us." Naruto said. "Everyone respects him and looks to him for guidance."

"I'm surprised you knew how to use guidance in a sentence." Sasuke remarked.

"Shut up bastard." Naruto muttered.

"Whatever dead-last." Sasuke responded.

Then they found out about the impending Fire Nation assault. Aang pointed they had the sky, something the Fire Nation did not. The Inventor offered his help and they went to the war room AKA the inventor's office. Sokka explained that he'd fixed the war balloon by giving it a lid and that they had four types of bombs to drop on the advancing Fire Nation soldiers. Smoke, Slime, Fire, and Stink.

"Never underestimate the power of Stink!" The inventor said proudly. The smaller kids kept a look out and once they were spotted everyone got to their battle stations. The fliers took the sky and began their assault on the ascending soldiers, Appa being the supply station. However their bombs were useless on the tanks climbing up the mountain.

Teo mentioned that they were balanced by a water powered system. Which gave Katara an idea. Naruto and Sasuke were busy harassing the ground troops, Naruto using his shadow clone jutsu to attempt to fight them one on one, but the fire kept dispersing them, Sasuke would deflect the fire thrown at him and redirected as many fireballs thrown at gliders as he could. But the sheer volume of fireballs made this task hard on the ninja. Katara was using the water in the tanks against them by making them fall apart. Appa landed and began to attack the tanks too.

The others ran out of bombs just as the war balloon finally made its appearance. Due to the Fire Nation Insignia, the troops didn't attack. Of course when they dropped their slime bombs they tipped their hands. By clever use of the rotten egg smell they'd placed around the cellar where the gas leaked through and their burner they managed to blow the rest of the Fire Troops away.

"I'm glad you guys live here. It's just like this hermit crab. You may not have been born here but you found this empty shell and made it your own." Aang said as he played with a hermit crab, one of the kinds that had lived there a hundred years before.

"That means a lot coming from you." Teo said happily.

"Aang's right so long as we have the air we're going to keep the Fire Nation on the run!" Sokka said triumphantly.

"Yeah!" Naruto agreed enthusiastically. Even Sasuke looked happy, which is a feat.

The Inventor looked away strangely morose.

On the ground the Fire Nation Officer who'd threatened the Inventor had found the War Balloon and his firebenders were able to inflate the balloon. Unbeknownst to the heroes, the Fire Nation now had the Air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just as a reminder, this is a reposting of a previously published fanfic from FF.Net.  
> I'm mostly doing this as a way to get to know this site's system by repetition.  
> I apologize for any errors you find, as I know they are there and I never did fix them.  
> -MP


	7. The Waterbending Master

Chapter 7: The Waterbending Master

Naruto and Sasuke were sitting on opposite sides of the saddle from each other, Katara in the front of the saddle and Sokka in the back.

"Not that I'm one to complain-," he began.

"Are you kidding me?" Naruto groaned.

"You're the one who can out complain Naruto any day." Sasuke snapped.

"Hey!" Naruto yelled at Sasuke.

"As I was saying, can't Appa fly any higher?" Sokka said as he finished his complaint.

"I have an idea, why don't we all climb on your back and fly to the North Pole!" Aang said crankily.

"I'd love to. Climb aboard everybody, Sokka's ready for takeoff." The older boy snarked.

"Look we're all just a little tired and cranky because we've been flying for two days straight," Katara said.

"A little?" Naruto said as Sokka said,

"And for what? We can't even find the Northern Water Tribe. There's nothing up here." Sokka said.

"Sokka actually has a point." Sasuke said grudgingly.

This was all just before an iceberg suddenly appeared before them making Aang steer Appa above it. Then another ice flow formed, this time freezing one of Appa's feet unbalancing the sky bison, sending it into a spin before he landed in the water, Katara and Sokka clinging onto the saddle for dear life, Sasuke and Naruto had both used chakara to stick to the saddle (after avoiding firenation fireballs the one time the pair figured out this trick really fast). Ice formed around the now level bison. After which many boats with a blue and white crescent symbol glided out. Katara said,

"They're waterbenders, we've found the Water Tribe!"

Zhaou's Council of War,

"He's heading North. The Northern Water Tribe. The Avatar needs to master waterbending. He's probably looking for a teacher," Zhaou said.

"Perfect. Why don't we go and stop him!" another general said.

"Patience General Li, this isn't some Earth Kingdom Village we can just march into." Zhaou said, after which he admitted there was a reason the Northern Water Tribe had survived 100 years of war, that the whole landscape was an advantage for the powerful benders of the Water Tribe that this would have to be a massive invasion force.

Northern Water Tribe,

Naruto was stunned speechless by the way the Northern Water Tribe looked. It was even more magnificent than the Land of Snow. Sasuke was also impressed by the fortress-like city. Even more impressive to the two ninja was the multitude of waterbenders manipulating the ice and water of the city effortlessly, their version of a canal working flawlessly to bring the group on the bison up to the same level as the canals that ran through the city. As they floated down the canal Sokka fell in love at first sight with a pretty Water Tribe girl with white hair. So when Katara remarked.

"It's so beautiful!" in reference to the city Sokka said,

"She sure is." He thought of the white haired girl.

"He thinks blonde hair is weird yet doesn't look twice at white?" Naruto snorted.

"Shut up, idiot." Sasuke said.

"Whatever, bastard." Naruto responded.

Zuko's Ship,

As the crew had music night and a bit too much to drink, Zuko sulked in his room. As Iroh tonelessly sang "Four Seasons, Four Loves," a boarding party led by Zhaou had arrived. The person playing the luiqin broke a string after they looked back to see who had just boarded their small vessel.

Northern Water Tribe,

Sasuke and Naruto were sitting on the end of the head table with a space between them and Sokka. Aang, naturally, had the seat of honor on the right of Chief Arnuk with Katara to his right and then Sokka to hers. Sasuke, Naruto, and Aang stuck out like sore thumbs amidst the many blue coated forms. Naruto and Aang even more so due to their odd hair or lack thereof. Naruto missed the first part of Chief Arnuk's speech but then saw the white haired girl from earlier walk in, and it turned out she was a princess.

Naruto didn't pay much attention to anything after he began eating, but he happened to look around and saw a pair of odd pale white/lavender eyes that lacked pupils, then he saw the rest of the person that went with the eyes, pale skin, short blue-black hair, delicate face, the rest of her covered up by the typical bulky Water Tribe parka and gloves, but Naruto recognized her. 'The nice dark weirdo!' he thought as he swallowed.

"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled and pointed over towards where the girl sat. Sasuke saw her and barely remembered that she too had been pulled into that vortex.

"That's a Hyuuga. I think the one in our graduating class was named Hinata." Sasuke said.

"Oh so that's her name." Naruto said. 'At least I have some else to call aside from nice dark weirdo.' He thought.

'Your intelligence is staggering,' the Nine-Tails commented.

'Shut up, fur ball!' Naruto replied.

"You know her?" asked Chief Arnuk surprised by the two ninjas conversation.

"Yes, she is from the same village Sasuke and me are from." Naruto said loudly. The Uchiha nodded in ascent with the blonde's loud proclamation.

Hinata had begun to make her way over to them after Naruto had yelled 'Sasuke.'

"H-hello N-Naruto." Hinata stuttered as she finally approached them. "H-hello Sasuke."

"Another one?" Sokka asked when he saw the leaf forehead protector that Hinata wore around her neck, barely visible over the fur lining of her indigo parka.

"Guys, this is Hinata Hyuuga. She's from Konoha too." Naruto said as he smiled broadly. This caused Hinata to blush furiously. Katara knew that Naruto was the cause and that the girl needed help with her confidence, badly.

"Pleasure to meet you! Are you a ninja too?" Katara asked.

"Y-yes." Hinata said.

"Amazing!" Katara said.

"Ninja?" asked Chief Arnuk asked of the others of the Avatar's entourage.

"It's what they call Shadow Warriors where they're from." Sokka said. "Aw, is she going to join us too?"

"C-Could I?" Hinata said softly.

"Of course she can!" Aang said.

"Just what we need, another crazy ninja!" Sokka moaned.

The next day found Sokka trailing after Yue, Hinata going off to healer training, Katara and Aang off for training with the curmudgeon known as Master Pakku, which left Sasuke and Naruto to their own devices. Aang had left a note but both were unable to read the writing and were too proud to ask for help. So Naruto eventually asked someone where a good place would be to practice airbending and if it was ok for Sasuke to practice there too. Sasuke had picked up on the fact mentioning he was a firebender would be most unwise the moment they entered the city. This meant he would be practicing his forms and breathing without the fire. The Avenger accepted the set-back thinking of the strength he would gain.

After being denied training based on her gender, Katara reluctantly walked into Yagoda's igloo where she saw many young girls and Hinata sitting around a representation of a body. Katara sat down next to the shy heiress, who also sat near the door, and began to listen to Yagoda's lecture on healing. Hinata didn't need to activate her Byuakugan to see Katara didn't really want to be there and hesitantly put a hand on her shoulder for comfort.

Zuko's Ship,

Zhaou had come to conscript all of the crew members (including the cook) for his own purposes. He didn't want Zuko there in case he got in Zhaou's way. When looking around Zuko's room he noticed a pair of broad swords hanging on the wall which brought to mind the shadowy criminal, the Blue Spirit, and how the one who took the Avatar away from him had skillfully wielded the exact same weapons. Had he been looking at Zuko, he'd have seen fear in the banished prince's eyes.

"I didn't know you were skilled with broad swords, Prince Zuko." Zhaou remarked as he removed one from the wall.

"I'm not. They're antiques, decorative." Zuko said as he looked down and to the side. Zhaou's back was still to him, but her turned and said to Iroh.

"Have you ever heard of the Blue Spirit, General?"

"Yes, but I don't think he's real." Iroh replied.

"I know he's real. He's a criminal, but I have a feeling justice will catch up with him soon." Zhaou said as he handed Iroh one of the broad swords.

"My offer to join me still stands, General Iroh." Zhaou said as a final parting shot.

Yagoda's Iglo,

As the lesson let out and some of the others helped carry out the fake human body used as an aide for teaching Katara walked over to Yagoda and thanked her for the lesson, Hinata hovered by the door.

"So who's the lucky boy?" Yagoda asked as she leaned forwards and looked at Katara's necklace.

"What?" Katara asked.

"Your betrothal necklace. You're getting married, right?" Yagoda said.

"No, I'm not ready for that yet. My grandmother passed this down to my mother and my mother passed it down to me." Katara said as she looked at her necklace.

"I recognize this carving. I don't know why I didn't see it earlier. You're the spitting image of Kana!" Yagoda said.

"Wait, how do you know my Gran-Gran's name?" Katara asked as she backed away.

"When I was about your age I was friends with Kana. She was born here, in the Northern Tribe." Yagoda explained.

"She never told me." Katara said softly.

"Your grandmother had an arranged marriage with a young waterbender. He carved that necklace for her." Katara looked down before she asked,

"If Gran-Gran was engaged, why did she leave?"

"I don't know; it's always been a mystery to me. She left without saying goodbye." Yagoda said sadly.

Zuko's Ship,

Iroh bid the crew good luck and tried to get Zuko off the ship to interrupt his sulking. But as he walked away the pirated closed in on the ship and rigged it to blow with blasting jelly. But one of the pirates made a handle squeak which alerted Zuko to another's presence on his ship. As he wandered the halls, in a ready stance, he made it to the helm when he saw the pirates' parrot-lizard fly by which alerted him too late that something was seriously wrong just before the ship blew.

"AHHHHH!"

Iroh heard the explosion and saw the smoke.

"ZUKO!" he said worried before he raced back to the ship only to see a burning wreck in its place.

"Zuko." He said sadly and softly.

Northern Water Tribe,

"So how was warrior training going?" Aang asked Sokka, who kicked his pack angrily in response.

"That bad?" Aang said.

"No, it's Princess Yue, one minute she wants to go out with me the next she's telling me to get lost!" Sokka grumbled.

"Maybe she realized she was wasting her time." Sasuke muttered.

"Say that again Pretty Boy!" Sokka growled. Naruto was asleep, already, and Hinata had been moved with them and she was also sleeping.

"Whatever." Sasuke said before he too turned in.

"How's waterbending training going?" Sokka asked. Katara flopped down at the same time as Aang said,

"Master Poophead won't teach her because she's a girl.

"Why don't you just teach her Aang?" Sokka said.

"Why didn't I think of that! You can teach me at night whatever moves Master Pakku shows you during the day. That way you have someone to practice with and I get to learn waterbending that way everyone's happy!"

"I'm not happy." Sokka said.

"But you're never happy. Come on Aang." Katara said as they walked out the door.

"Keep it down, the rest of us are trying to sleep." Sasuke snapped before he rolled over.

"And they say I'm never happ-EE!" Sokka said only to find a kunai centimeters from a very, um, sensitive spot.

Long story short: They got busted by Pakku who dismissed Aang as his student on the sport. This found them, the next morning, before the Chief.

"What do you expect me to do, force Master Pakku to take Aang back as his student?" he asked as if it were easier to turn back the tide without waterbending than that.

"Yes please." Katara said.

"He might if you swallow your pride and apologize," Chief Arnuk said.

Pakku's manner made Katara reconsider apologizing and she instead challenged him to a fight, a bold unpredictable move worthy of Naruto.

"Katara you're not going to win this fight!" Sokka said as they walked down the stairs, Katara pulled off her parka and shoved it at her brother.

"I know! I don't care!" Katara said.

"Ignore him, kick his ass Katara!" Naruto yelled.

"Don't encourage her." Sasuke said. "She might end up like you or her brother." This earned twin 'HEY's of indignation from the offended pair. They stayed back from where Katara had said the challenge was and Pakku walked past her, ignoring her completely this caused her to form a water whip and nail the waterbending master on the back of the head. IT was now ON.

Throughout the fight Naruto and a few others were constantly cheering loudly for the girl. After she was flung into a pool of water and sent disks of ice at the master, one nearly sheering off his hair and she got out he admitted she was a good bender but he still wouldn't train her. It wasn't until he trapped her in multiple vertical ice spikes that it was over: Katara could no longer move and therefore could no longer fight. But as the elderly master walked away he spotted the betrothal necklace he'd unknowingly knocked from Katara's neck during their duel.

"This is my necklace." He said in surprise.

"No it's not, it's mine!" Katara yelled as she struggled against the ice that trapped her.

"I carved this sixty years ago for the love of my life. For Kana." He said as he bent the spikes back into water.

"My Gran-Gran was supposed to marry you?" Katara said looking very disheveled her hair a complete and total mess.

Zhaou's Flagship,

Iroh sat drinking tea with Zhaou who offered false condolences on Zuko's murder smirking whenever Iroh mentioned that the pirates had done. It was definitely a 'cat-that-ate-the-canary' smirk. The smug admiral had thought he'd gotten away with ordering the hit. But later, Iroh made his way through the ship and stopped to talk to what seemed to be a random firebender in full armor, including a faceplate in the helmet.

"Our plan is working perfectly, Zhaou doesn't suspect a thing." Iroh said. The soldier removed the plate to reveal a battered, but alive, Zuko.

"You don't have to be here." He said.

"No nephew of mine is going to stowaway on a ship without back-up." Iroh said as if it were a common thing.

"Thank you, Uncle." Zuko said before they heard footsteps.

"Someone's coming!" Iroh said, at this Zuko slid his faceplate back into position.

"Stay hidden until we get to the North Pole and the Avatar will be yours. Good Luck." Iroh said before they continued on their separate ways.

Northern Water Tribe,

"I carved this for your grandmother the day we got engaged. I thought this would be the start of a long happy life for us." Pakku said sadly. "I loved her." He admitted.

"But she didn't love you, did she? She didn't let your tribe's stupid traditions rule her life. Leaving here must have taken more strength then I can imagine." Katara said contemplatively. Yue began to cry and took off.

"Go to her." Aang said to Sokka.

"Yeah, go on lover boy-ouch!" Naruto said and Sasuke smacked him up alongside the head.

"You've been hanging around Sokka and Aang too much." Naruto muttered.

Sokka found out why Yue ran off crying and why she kept giving him Hot and Cold signals: She was engaged. Of course she revealed this after she planted one on the confused Southern boy.

The next morning Pakku was still as much of a grouch as ever but he let Katara, who was late, join in their lesson that morning along with a very self-conscious Hinata.

Zhaou's Ship,

"My fleet is ready, set a heading for the Northern Water Tribe!" he ordered his helmsman. His massive ship led the way for the massive invasion fleet behind him. War was coming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just as a reminder, this is a reposting of a previously published fanfic from FF.Net.  
> I'm mostly doing this as a way to get to know this site's system by repetition.  
> I apologize for any errors you find, as I know they are there and I never did fix them.  
> -MP


	8. Siege of the North Part 1

Chapter 8: Siege of the North Part 1

Katara faced down her opponent, a boy who looked terrified of her. She defeated him easily. After cajoling the defeated boy and freeing him from the ice Katara had frozen him in, Pakku called on the class for anyone brave enough to battle Katara. The only other girl in the class came forwards and bowed her head to Katara before taking a ready stance.

"I'm not going easy on you Hinata." Katara said.

"I'm not expecting it, K-Katara!" Hinata said, almost without a stutter. The dark skinned girl had been working on the other girl's confidence and it was working while she encouraged the other girl as they both trained in waterbending. Encouragement seemed to be what Hinata needed most to repair her shattered self-confidence.

"Begin!" Pakku said. This battle lasted longer as Hinata wasn't completely terrified of Katara and had more actual fighting experience then the boys to begin with. Katara still won though, Hinata was good but she lacked a killer instinct, which was why she was better at defense.

"I've never seen anyone advance as fast as you two. It seems hard work will get you further than raw talent will." Pakku said and he looked over at the loafing Aang, at whom Hinata had to muffle a giggle at, especially after his snowman stunt. It reminded her of Naruto. Speaking of which,

"YEAHH!" Naruto whooped from the air, flying on his glider avoiding expertly thrown snowballs from the roofs. The dark head and pale skin of the one tossing the snowballs revealed it was Sasuke and Naruto had done something to upset the avenger.

"He's your student, Aang." Katara remarked deadpan.

"He certainly is!" Aang laughed.

Naruto had indeed ticked off the dark haired boy early and because he didn't want to get imprisoned for his elemental bending affinity, Sasuke was reduced to throwing whatever projectiles he could get, in this case snowballs (He didn't want to risk losing any kunai or shuriken). The moronic blonde managed to avoid all of his throws, his skill with airbending increasing rapidly. But training with clones helped people learn faster. Bending styles outside of his own, he could copy the moves with the Sharingan but the bending would ultimately come out as fire. But the genius figured out that if he did an airbending move and fire came out it could surprise an enemy.

As they continued their chase the both notice Appa take off with Sokka and the princess on board.

"YEAH-OOOF!" Naruto said, his statement incomplete because Sasuke nailed him in the mouth with a snowball.

"Undo this NOW!" Sasuke yelled irately. Perhaps I should have been more clear: Sasuke was currently a SHE and she was not happy about her appearance at all.

"NAYAHNAYAH!" Naruto taunted before he crashed into a pillar. Luckily the ice structure was strong enough to take the impact. The glider, miraculously, survived. Naruto landed on his back, his face red.

"Now!" Sasuke demanded kunai at Naruto's throat.

"'K" the blonde said before he made a handsign which returned Sasuke to his usual, brooding male self.

Before Sasuke could threaten or thrash the number 1 unpredictable knuckle-headed ninja, it began to snow black. Naruto tasted it before he spat it out.

"Yuck! Soot!" he choked as he got up and picked up the fallen glider.

"This is bad." Sasuke said.

The Fire Nation was coming. Chief Arnuk asked for volunteers for a dangerous mission. The Sasuke volunteered along with Sokka, who'd just had his heart broken.

"You'd better not die, Bastard!" Naruto said.

"I won't, moron." Sauske retorted.

"G-Good luck, S-sauske," said Hinata. The Last Uchiha nodded before he and the others set out.

It turned out the rest of the GAang was stationed on the front wall. The first fireball hit and slammed right into the Water Tribe symbol and sent many from the wall, a second and third hit before Aang recovered enough to figure out how to counter the fireballs. Naruto got out of the snow and saw what the Avatar was doing and flew over to join him only to find he really didn't need any help, but decided to harass some of the people stationed near the stern of the ship. Then the waterbenders got to it and froze it in place but this was before the rest of the fleet was spotted and Aang voiced what Naruto felt.

"You've got to be kidding me." Naruto landed behind the monk and nodded to him as he looked back at the blonde.

Sasuke and Sokka were in a room awaiting Cheir Arnuk's orders.

"Men you will be infiltrating the Fire Nation Navy so you will all need one of these uniforms." The chief said as a young man with an arrogant look on his face walked out. Sokka couldn't help himself, he outright laughed at the boy's uniform. Everyone turned to look at him as if he were nuts.

"What's your problem?" asked the boy.

"Fire Navy uniforms don't look like that." Sokka said.

"What are you talking about, these are actual Fire Navy uniforms captured from Fire Nation Soldiers." The boy replied.

"I have perfect memory and I've never seen any of the Fire Nation soldiers I've ever encountered wear armor like that." Sasuke said in a tone that said, 'Contradict me, I dare you.'

"And when did you capture them? A hundred years ago?" Sokka snorted.

"85." Chief Arnuk admitted.

"The Fire Nation doesn't wear shoulder spikes anymore. The new uniforms are more streamlined." Sokka said as he 'spoinged' the shoulder spike.

"How do we know we can trust this guy anyway? Such bold talk for a new recruit." The boy said.

'They're worse than me and Naruto.' Sasuke observed bored. He missed Arnuk's reprimand and whenever he mentioned they needed to find out the commanding Fire Nation Officer's name Sokka already knew it. It was the man that had attacked Zhong-Zhong's camp. Naruto referred to him in private as 'Monkey Face.' Though, the Last Uchiha wouldn't put it past the hyperactive blonde to call Zhaou that to his face; in fact if Naruto was anywhere near the man he would undoubtedly be using that moniker. Sasuke was less than thrilled to find out the arrogant boy was the one leading the mission. His stance screamed of inexperience.

Naruto was confused whenever the ships anchored at dusk, miles from shore. But he was too tired to care. Aang and Appa had taken out three ships to every one Naruto managed to take down with liberal use of shadow clone and borrowing a trick or two from Aang as well and using some of the more destructive pranks in his own arsenal. Then again Aang was the Avatar, and had more raw power than Naruto did and Naruto was only a half trained airbender. The girls had been observing from a farther in wall and ran to meet them as they landed.

"They're just too many of them! I can't fight them all." Aang said as they both sat tiredly by Appa, who was also wiped.

"But you have to, you're the Avatar." Yue said.

"I'm just one kid." Aang said.

"Lay off him." Naruto said. "So what if he's the Avatar, he doesn't know the Shadow Clone jutsu so he can't be multiple places at once."

"Couldn't you teach him?" Katara asked.

"Not exactly." Naruto said. "I mean he probably has the chakra for it, but I don't know how to teach him."

"Thanks anyway." Aang said tiredly as Katara helped him up. Thanks to his Nine-Tails boosted healing, Naruto was able to get up and continue to walk.

Sasuke had stepped out for a moment but when he returned to where the others on the mission were preparing for he found Sokka had tackled Han and they were rolling around on the floor. Before he could pull them apart the chief already had and kicked Sokka off the mission. But the way Han called everyone to him quite cockily afterwards cinched it for Sasuke: this man would lead everyone on this mission to their deaths.

"You, dark boy, you coming?" Han asked imperiously.

"You know nothing of battle. I will not follow you to my death. I have something I must do that's more important than your pride." Sasuke ground out.

"Fine, whatever. Let's go get Admiral Joe men!" Han said.

"It's Zhaou!" Sokka yelled.

"Not worth it." Sasuke said before he left the room.

Naruto listened as Yue talked about the moon spirit being the first waterbender and how it gives the waterbenders their strength.

'That must be why the firebenders stopped at sundown; they didn't want to lose to the moon powered waterbenders.' Naruto thought.

'You're finally using your brain. I'm proud of you, idiot.' Nine-Tails said. Instead of responding as usual, Naruto attempted the silent treatment.

'Ooo, the silent treatment. How old are you? Six?' Nine-Tails taunted, but Naruto managed to tune him out. However he'd brushed against Aang whenever Nine-Tails was talking and he heard the voice of the imprisoned demon fox.

"What was that creepy voice!" Aang asked just before Yue began to lead them to where her idea thought to take Aang.

'So he can hear me whenever he's touching you. Interesting, there must be something to this link business after all if he can hear a demon.' Nine-Tails said.

'Maybe if you didn't distract me, and bug me all the time, he might not have heard you.' Naruto replied. Aang touched Nartuo to shake him out of his zone-out only to hear more of the creepy voice.

'What's the fun in that, moron? You're the only one I can really talk after the Son of a B_h Fourth Hokage sealed me into you, a moronic blockhead who's only ambitions are recognition from out of my stigma, ramen, and that annoying pink haired twit.' Nine-Tails said.

"You have a demon in you?" Aang asked, eye wide.

'Thanks a lot fur ball.' Naruto thought angrily.

"Yes." He said as he was terrible at lying and there was no point after Aang had heard the demon talk.

"Demon?" asked Katara confused.

"They're what happens to spirits that have been corrupted past regular evil." Aang said.

"Twelve years ago, the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox attacked my home and in order to save us all the Fourth Hokage sacrificed himself to seal it into a newborn baby, me. My whole village hates me for it." Naruto said reluctantly, forgetting Hinata was with them.

"I don't hate you Naruto." Hinata said startling the blonde. Naruto looked up at her and then smiled at her.

"Thanks Hinata." He said. The girl blushed but managed to stay conscious.

"So what was your idea?" Katara asked. They followed Yue through the city and she took them to a small door.

"Is that the door to the spirit world?" Aang asked. This caused Yue to giggle.

'That boy reminds me of you in a bad way.' Nine-Tails snorted.

"You two look dead on your feet." Katara remarked to the two ninja. "Get some sleep."

"'K, but we'll be here first thing in the morning." Naruto said. He and Hinata used the roofs to navigate quickly to where they were staying.

Back in the barracks,

Sokka was sharpening his boomerang, while Sasuke sat off to the side sharpening all his kunai and shuriken.

"I pulled you off the mission for selfish reasons. I have a special mission for you." Chief Arnuk.

"What is it? Scrubbing the barracks?" Sokka asked.

"I want you to protect Yue." Chief Arnuk said.

"Protect Princess Yue? Should be easy." Sokka said after a moment.

Elsewhere,

After Iroh had helped him off the boat, Zuko found himself near the walls, but before attempting to climb them he saw that the turtle-seals were diving into a hole in the ice, and this meant they had to come up for air somewhere. Zuko followed them to a cavern and patted the heads of a couple, after telling them to shut up, and he found a water source, swam against the current, found an air pocket, followed the water currents, and nearly drowned before he heated up his hands and melted his way through, and he laid in the tunnel he'd melted up through, resting to catch his breath.

Spirit Oasis,

"What's he doing?" Yue asked Katara as the stood behind the meditating Aang.

"He's meditating. It takes all of his concentration." Katara said softly.

"Can we do anything?" Yue said.

"How about some quiet!" Aang yelled irritably before he tried to resume meditating. He began to watch the fish and they appeared to form a Yin Yang. Aang's tattoos and eyes glowed white.

"Is he ok?" Yue asked.

"He's just crossing over to the spirit world. He'll be fine just as long as we don't move his body. That's his way back to the physical world." Katara said.

"Shouldn't we get some help or something?" Yue said.

"He's my friend, I'm perfectly capable of protecting him." Katara said.

"Well, aren't you a big girl now." Zuko's voice said.

(Because I can't do it justice, just picture the big-ish fight between the two)

"Katara!" a voice said which roused the unconscious waterbender. She opened her eyes to see Hinata shaking her awake.

"Where's Aang?" Sokka asked.

"It was Zuko, he took Aang right out from under me." Katara said sadly.

"Where could they have gone?" Yue said.

"The Fire Nation's in the city." Hinata said softly. "Naruto's fighting them. So is Sasuke."

Above the oasis in the snow, Zuko walked away with the unconscious Avatar into the blizzard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just as a reminder, this is a reposting of a previously published fanfic from FF.Net.  
> I'm mostly doing this as a way to get to know this site's system by repetition.  
> I apologize for any errors you find, as I know they are there and I never did fix them.  
> -MP


	9. Siege of the North Part 2

Chapter 9: Siege of the North Part 2

Naruto and Sasuke were doing their best to fight the firebenders, Sasuke having to tip his hand that he could bend fire. This led to many of the firebenders ganging up on him. Naruto had to keep multiplying to keep ahead of the invasion and the fact the firebenders were stronger in the day. Which was good for Sasuke but bad for the rest of their allies.

"It's getting worse!" Naruto yelled over at Sasuke. Naruto took to the air only to nearly get shot down. So he was stuck to fighting on the ground using his airbending in conjunction with his clones. The waterbenders doing their best against the sun enhanced firebenders.

Spirit World,

Aang found himself in the spirit world near a rude monkey dressed like a monk who told him to 'Go Away.' He then tricked Aang away from him using a strange floating light. It wasn't until he looked at his reflection that he got any sort of guidance at all. It was Roku. After asking him he told Aang that the Moon and Ocean spirit had left the spirit world long ago and the only one old enough to remember it was a spirit named Ko. But Ko would snatch the face right off of anyone who showed even the slightest emotion in front of him. While searching for Ko. Aang found a faceless monkey on his way to a cave in an upside down tree.

Living World,

Naruto cheered as the moon rose giving their side a much needed boost in the battle, the blonde teaming up with others and throwing shadow kunai which did the same damage as their real non-chakra based counterparts. Hinata had joined the battle field and was mostly using waterbending, her confidence in that stronger than in her Gentle Fist. The Konoha ninja not used to fighting regular army found it to be a different experience. Not hard, but different for warriors trained to fight in the shadows or against others like themselves instead of those who only got general army training. The bender being closer to what their used to.

Spirit World,

The centipede bodied spirit did it's best to get the child Avatar to get any sort of reaction so he'd have an excuse to take Aang's face. He laughed when Aang said he needed the Moon and Ocean's help and told him that Tui and La needed his help instead.

"Please help me find them so I can protect them." Aang said.

"You've already met them. Tui and La, your moon and ocean spirits circle each other in an endless dance. Balancing each other: Push and Pull, Life and Death, Good and Evil, Yin and Yang." He said which made Aang exclaim,

"The koi fish!" his expression bland when Ko looked at him again.

"I must be going." Aang said blandly. Hei Ba was his guide out of the spirit world but where he ended up his body was not.

"Where's my body?" he asked before he flashed over to his physical self, which was being held captive by Zuko.

"Welcome back." Zuko said.

"It's good to be back." Aang said before he used air to blow himself out of the cave while sending Zuko into a wall. He tried to worm-crawl away but Zuko grabbed him just as Appa, Katara, Yue, and Sokka arrived. This time, powered by the Full Moon, Zuko was no match for the waterbender.

"We have to go, the spirits are in danger!" Aang said.

Just as he said that Zhaou, having made his way through bagged the white koi fish, Tui the mortal form of the moon spirit. The moon bled red and all the waterbenders in the fight, including Hinata lost their bending powers. Naruto looked up at the sky and could hear the Nine-Tails growling.

'A HUMAN DARES TO GO AFTER A SPIRIT! IF I WEREN'T TRAPPED IN YOU I'D GO TEAR HIM TO SHREADS FOR HIS ARROGANCE!'

'Is that why the moon went red?' asked Naruto.

'Yes.' The demon responded. 'Go to that oasis. I'm sure I sensed them there.'

'But I'm needed out here.' Naruto said. 'Now more than ever because their powers are gone.'

'DO YOU THINK PUNY HUMAN LIVES ARE WORTH THAT OF A SPIRIT!' the Nine-Tails roared.

'I didn't know you cared about anything.' Naruto snorted.

'The moon spirit of our world is valued ally and to allow one of his incarnations to die would be unforgivable.'

"Hinata, Sasuke, I've got to go but I'll leave clones behind to help." Naruto said.

"B-be careful." Hinata said as she began to fight the firebenders with her Gentle Fist and took out their bending powers by closing their up their chakra systems with a few hits.

"Don't do anything stupid." Sasuke said. Naruto nodded before he made a thousand clones and let them loose before he opened his glider and flew towards where he knew the oasis to be.

Naruto arrived as Aang and the others arrived to see Zhaou with the Moon Spirit in a bag, struggling to survive. Momo leapt on his head in the middle of Zhaou counting his chickens WAY before they hatched going on about how he'd be famous and blah,blah,blah.

Aang and the others pointed their weapons at Zhaou.

"Don't forget Zhaou the long winded." Naruto said.

"Don't even bother." He said as he threatened the moon spirit.

"Zhaou, Don't." Aang said as they all set their weapons down. Naruto had to fight to keep the Nine-Tails from pumping his system full of his own kind of chakra.

"It's my destiny to destroy the moon and the Water Tribe!" he said.

"Destroying the moon won't just hurt the Water Tribe. It will hurt everyone, including you." Aang said. "Without the moon the whole world would fall out of balance. You have no idea what kind of chaos that would unleash upon the world.

"He's right Zhaou." Iroh saw entering the scene.

"General Iroh, why am I not surprised to discover your treachery." Zhaou said.

"I'm no traitor, Zhaou, the Fire Nation needs the moon too. We all depend on the balance." Iroh said as he flung back his hood. "Whatever you do to that spirit I'll unleash on you tenfold! Let it go NOW!" Iroh yelled. Zhaou actually seemed to relent, and for this bit of acting the sociopath deserves an Oscar for just afterwards he lashed out and killed Tui, darkening the sky and setting off Iroh into an attack frenzy and Naruto losing control of the Nine-Tails' rage, it's chakra overwhelming his host. Two tails formed in the chakra cloak. The possessed ninja chased after the fleeing cowardly Zhaou.

"There's no hope now, it's over." Yue sobbed. Aang slipped into the Avatar state and said,

"No, it's not over." He went into the pond and the ocean spirit glowed too. Then Aang seemed to be sucked into the water of the pond. Around them the water began to glow with an eerie blue webbed light.

A monster made of the blue lit water with the Avatar as its core appeared next to the tallest building in the water tribe and stood head and shoulders above it. As it went through the city it wiped out any and all firebenders it saw. The 2-tail form Naruto was also massacring firebenders. The two creatures looked at one another before continuing their respective rampages. (2-tail Naruto had grown bored with chasing Zhaou and went after the first group of firebenders he saw instead.) Every waterbender who saw the monstrous form of the enraged ocean spirit bowed, while every Fire Nation soldier foolishly tried to attack. Hinata and Sasuke followed the other warriors' examples whenever the spirit passed nearby. (The Naruto clones all dispersed when he went 2-tails.)

Katara had tried to heal the koi fish that had been Tui to no avail.

"It's too late, it's already dead." She said as Iroh lowered it into the water. They all looked sadly at the water. Iroh looked over at Yue and said with amazement,

"You have been touched by the Moon Spirit. Some of its life is in you."

"You're right. It gave me life, maybe I can give it back." She said as an idea came to mind she stood up and Sokka got up and grabbed her hand.

"No! You don't have to do that." Said Sokka

"It's my duty, Sokka." Yue said.

"I won't let you. Your father told me to protect you." Sokka said.

"I have to do this." Yue said. She broke free of his grip and placed her hands over the injured koi and they glowed white, but she collapsed into Sokka's arms, dead as the fish in Iroh's hands.

"NOOOO!" Sokka yelled. "She's gone. She's gone."

The Fire Navy ships were withdrawing as if the devil himself was after him and maybe they were right in thinking so. The wrath filled Ocean Spirit was taking no prisoners. It flowed out into the harbor and began to take apart ships as if they were toys, ignoring the fireballs catapulted at it by virtue of its body absorbing the hits. It sent two ships skipping across the surface out of the bay and out into the ocean itself the ships near the mouth of the bay were swept away in a glowing wave. The vengeful spirit had now made its way to the rest of the fleet.

Yue's body faded out and the koi began to glow which prompted Iroh to place it in the pond, which glowed brightly before an ethereal Yue appeared wearing an elaborate outfit. Only she was floating and glowing.

"I'll always be with you Sokka." The new moon spirit said as she kissed the warrior good bye. She faded out and the others looked upwards towards the sky.

The ocean spirit and 2-tail Naruto saw the moon had returned and both stopped their rampages. Naruto collapsing in the middle of the fight, Aang being deposited on what was left of the front wall by La. In the middle of the city Zuko and Zhaou were fighting and the younger bender was winning. He had Zhaou on the ground whenever strange water appeared and grabbed the admiral. Zuko looked on in shock before he did the honorable thing and tried to save Zhaou's life. The arrogant fool refused the help and was dragged down into the water by the spirit, no trace of a body left when the glowing subsided. After the battle Pakku announced he along with some other benders and healers were going to the Southern Water Tribe to help it rebuild.

"Who will teach Aang? He still needs to learn Water Bending." Katara said.

"Then he'd better get used to calling you Master Katara." Pakku said.

Naruto reluctantly told Sasuke about the Nine-Tailed Fox. Sasuke's response was silence before saying.

"That explains the mission in wave and your insane chakra capacity."

"So neither of you hate me for it?" Naruto asked.

"Why? You're obviously not the fox." Sausuke said snorting.

"I'm not sure if I'm insulted or not." Naruto muttered which made Hianta giggle.

"There's something else I have to tell you guys. We're not going to find a way home easily. We're in another world, as fuzzy says," Naruto said.

"Wh-what about Sakura?" asked Hinata.

"We'll find her first, but I think we need to stay with Aang. I just have a feeling if we stay with him, we'll find our way home," Naruto said smiling.

"Hn," Sasuke said before nodding.

Arnuk explained how the spirits gave him a vision of Yue's ascension as the moon spirit, and after Sokka pointed it out he admitted he was proud, but also sad that day had come. Katara and Aang hugged before Momo felt left out. Sokka, Naruto, Hinata, and Sasuke each placed their hands on Aang's shoulder as they looked out at the moon and at the horizon. Whatever they'd face in the future, they'd do it together.

END BOLT OUT OF THE BLUE-BOOK 1: WATER

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't decided on whether or not I'll import the second part over here or not as I haven't been able to get inspired to write Book 3 as of yet.   
> I hope whomever read this here enjoyed it.  
> -MP


End file.
